sand iron
12:57 Mon Nov 21Re: Bilic playing Antonio at right back (again)

Kouyate was a centre half by trade at his former club, he played many times there including in the champions league. For me he looks very comfortable there & his performances have been much more disciplined then they were when he played centre mid.

So where now do we play Antonio & Kouyate seeing as they're both at fault for all the goals coming down the right hand side?

Also England conceded 2 late goals last week down there left after Creswell came on, where they both his fault as well?

chedylan 2
12:36 Mon Nov 21Re: Bilic playing Antonio at right back (again)

sure its been mentioned loads

ITS RIGHT WING BACK

which is better than sticking him right back as he has an extra defender to come across

The trouble is that right sided central defender is a central midfielder playing out of position.

Which makes the Tomkins sale look very very stupid,

Private Dancer
12:21 Mon Nov 21Re: Bilic playing Antonio at right back (again)

It's all got a bit confusing, not to mention boring, discussing this. Thought he was the best player on the pitch first half.

stewie griffin
12:18 Mon Nov 21Re: Bilic playing Antonio at right back (again)

We conceded a shed load of goals down our right hand side when Antonio was playing right wing as well - like Watford at home.

I thought we looked good for a good chunk of the match, making a good Tottenham side look ordinary.

So ordinary that it made the complete fuck-up at the end feel even worse.

Hammers1993
12:13 Mon Nov 21Re: Bilic playing Antonio at right back (again)

I find it hard not to blame Bilic for everything at the moment.

It's no coincidence that all 3 of their goals came about from that side.

Michail continously gets exposed and shown up in that RWB/RB role and I feel sorry for him. It's easy to put the blame on him for being rubbish in that role but it's not his fault, he is willing, and wants to do it for the team and because Bilic is asking that of him, but it gets to a point where he must feel so embarrassed he has to flat out say no.

When played at RM in his natural position he is one of the only players scoring goals for us.

What is Bilic thought process on this one?

Michail should walk into his office and say look one, RM I am the only one scoring and two look at how you are embarrassing me by playing me there.

Why is nobody from the media asking him these questions after the match? I would love to hear his answer.

sand iron
11:20 Mon Nov 21Re: Bilic playing Antonio at right back (again)

I was at the game Saturday & honestly thought we looked good & in know way looked like loosing until Sakho & Payet went off. Baring in mind Sakho wasn't match fit yet he still led the line well on his own. I saw positives Saturday, the biggest worry though is confidence right now.

sand iron
11:06 Mon Nov 21Re: Bilic playing Antonio at right back (again)

We've been more solid since we switched 352.. Although we're still conceding we're certainly harder to score against then the first 5 games of the season, so it's fair to say the system has worked to a certain extent.

Antonio has been much better at wing back with 3 centre halfs then in a flat back 4, the extra right sided centre half (Kouyate who's been much better there then he was in centre midfield) gives you that little bit more cover & license to get forward more, which as we know is what Antonio's game is all about.

Personally I think we should stay with the system, at the end of the day it's the players that make systems work & with sakho coming back to fitness & hopefully Carroll not far behind him then we should have more cutting edge, which as we all know as been a big problem so far.

Getting back to 3 centre halfs/wing backs, Chelsea & City are currently playing the system very well, OK they've got better players/squads/managers, but does anyone honestly think Moses who's playing wing back well for Chelsea would be a better player for that role then Antonio if he was still with us?

Dr Moose
10:37 Mon Nov 21Re: Bilic playing Antonio at right back (again)

Sorry, meant Saturday night.

Dr Moose
10:37 Mon Nov 21Re: Bilic playing Antonio at right back (again)

No matter how well we played yesterday, its still a defeat, hovering a point over the relegation places with Sunderland starting to find form. Defeat to either Burnley or hull at the end of the next 3 game is not acceptable!

Er... there is no right back. Using wing backs is a good idea with our players, and Antonio is the obvious right sided wing back. Arbeloa can't do that. If we played with a flat back four then they would have run/passed through t two CBs whereas Winston Reid in the middle of a three was brilliant all the way to injury time.